our week by iPhone - week 76

this last week was half vacay, half back to real life.  only not real life as we normally like to know it because p-ray was sick!  boo.  and on his birthday too.

spoiler alert, he's on the mend & things are lookin' up for the weekend.  here's what everything else looked like in iPics!

sunday.  started our gorgeous morning off with the fourth trip to target of the vacay.  not joking... we kept needing things like diapers & wipes & target just kept answering.  then we spent some time with a whole bunch of loose seals on the beach {c'mon, someone please pick up the "arrested development" reference!} & a crazy amount of birds on cliffs.  this picture of parker & me on the beach may or may not be my favorite of the whole trip.

oh yeah & we ate phil's bbq & it was crazy delicious.

monday. helping baby boy in my belly grow by eating this monstrosity of a burger.  the patty was half ground beef half {are you ready for this?} ground bacon.  yeah, you heard that right.  complimenting that insanity was avocado mash, an over-easy egg, pepperjack cheese & chipotle mayo.  heaven in my mouth.

after lunch we toured the retired aircraft carrier uss midway & parker got locked in the brig.  also?  after checking out the flight deck we recited every line we could remember from top gun, made way too many "goose" & "maverick" references & left with "highway to the danger zone" in our heads.  good times.

our last night in san diego was washed down with some tasty malts.  win.

tuesday.  the last day in san diego was gorgeous so what better way than to start it off at the hash house with ridiculously huge portions of brunch?  if you guessed this whole trip was about food, you were right.

after brunch & packing up we were off to the airport where parker LOVED watching the airplanes from our gate & movies from his dad's lap.  such an awesome little traveler.

wednesday. p-ray woke up with a fever, cough, runny nose & sore throat so we took it easy until i decided it was time to get him out of the house & bought him a sympathy sick-day-cookie-monster.  it only cheered him up for about five minutes & then we were back to snuggles & movies in bed.

thursday was probably the peak of parker's sickness.  he had a fever most the day & didn't wanna do much else other than stay snuggled up next to me.  every time he coughed he cried out in pain & told me his "neck hurts."  oh yeah, & it was the poor kid's BIRTHDAY!  finally sam came home & took a snuggle-shift {don't get me wrong, i love the snuggles... but i can only watch so much pixar!} & then decided we needed to get out of the house.

parker's birthday-night was spent celebrating with a walk around costco eating frozen yogurt & then enjoying the sunset from the parking lot.  because we're classy like that.

oh yeah, & that fro-yo was the only thing we got him to eat all. day. long.  poor little monster!

friday started off with parker's two-year check-up where he insisted on touching every germy toy in the waiting room.  awesome.  at least he was interested in toys & starting to act like his normal self again though, right?  we drove home on a semi-gorgeous day where parker proceeded to empty my cupboards & line up the goods.  i think he's feeling better.

the sickness continued to wane as he pulled silly faces on my bed while i got ready for my bestie's surprise 30th totally 80's birthday party!  yes, you are seeing lots of neon.  this party was insane... mostly because i literally felt like i had just walked back in time 25 years when we were treated to pop-rocks, bubble-tape & a slew of awesome 80's music & movie posters.  it was tubular.

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***photos edited via instagram.  do you instagram?  find me @amy_agoodlife & let's picture bond!***
that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=142542" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

hey parker... it's your birthday!

but we're postponing further celebrations.  i know, i know... not fun!  

today you're sick, little monster.  i can hear you coughing back in your bed as i type this & it makes my heart hurt to know there's not much more i can do than turn up your humidifier, rub vicks on your feet & hope for the best.

but don't worry... we've already done lots of fun things to celebrate!  we took you to a padres game while we were in san diego & you had so. much. fun.  you clapped & cheered & waved & walked around the whole entire stadium all by yourself.  you were in awe of the lights & the stadium organ & you kept yelling out "baseball!" when you looked at the field.  

an usher thought you were cute & gave you a little plush baseball with the san diego padres "SD" logo on it.  you spent the rest of vacation holding on to that baseball & taking it everywhere you went.  heaven forbid you lose sight of it for five minutes!  

your mom & dad love watching you have fun, parker.  we stayed for fireworks at the end of the game & a week later, you are still talking about them.  "see fireworks!  boom boom boom! baseball!"  

you are such a fun little boy.

and today you are two.  

two years have gone by since we met you face to face.  two years of holding you in my arms & calling you my baby.  you've made me happy beyond anything i ever thought possible & continue to do so everyday.  you're my little boy & even though you get bigger everyday & will someday not fit in my arms or on my lap, you'll always be my little boy.  

and now you get to be a big brother.  i can't wait to see you with your little brother... you're going to have so much fun with him.  you love babies & think it's so funny when they do anything.  i'm so excited for you to meet him!

we love you so much parker & can't imagine our lives without you.  actually, we can't even remember what life was like without you... it must have been so boring!  our lives as a family of three began on this day two years ago & nothing has been the same since.  thank you so much for being such a good little boy & giving us the best two years of our lives.  

happy birthday, little monster.

twenty-four weeks. bumpdate!

{compare kid two belly to parker belly here.}

let's hear it for v-day!!

yes, we've reached that magical week where if i was to go into pre-term labor, doctors would do everything they could to save my little boy.  however, at twenty-four weeks this little man only has approximately a 60% chance of surviving & about a 75% chance of suffering serious medical complications when he did, so let's not hope for labor anytime soon.  he needs to stay in at least another thirteen weeks & get himself fully baked.

but still?  pretty awesome that this baby in my belly is actually possibly capable of living outside the womb now.  makes him much more human-like, ya know?

and as he starts to move & hiccup & kick a whole lot more, i find myself getting more & more & more excited for him to come out.  i really wonder what he's gonna look like & if he's gonna be anything like parker or if he's gonna be a whole new ballgame.  parker was a super mellow baby & has been a pretty mellow toddler so everyone says this one is gonna be a hellian.  please tell me that's not how it works!

i'm starting to remember how moms get through labor & those first few weeks.  it's because you get so uncomfortable towards the end of your pregnancy that you would do anything to get that baby out & then you're just so happy to have an outside baby you're willing to do anything to keep them happy, am i right?  not that i'm to that point yet, but as the belly grows & pings of sciatica race down my leg, it's starting to come back to me.  i am so so so grateful to be pregnant & so excited for every single baby kick & milestone but y'all?  pregnancy is hard.  and i'm sure i'll have to post a couple times about that.  no one ever says it's not worth it, but yeah... it's hard.  that's all i'm sayin'.

well, this is our last day in san diego.  we fly back today & real life starts back up tomorrow.  i did a real crappy job of taking pictures with my big camera but took a ton with the iPhone.  just so much easier, ya know?  plus the last couple days were pretty overcast & there weren't really any great beach/sunset/amazing scenery photo-ops so whatcanyado?  but we've been having a blast & no one is ready to go home.  it's been an awesome little vacay for our last as a family of three & it's crazy to think that if we go somewhere next spring it'll be as a family of four.  crazy & exciting.

that being said... it's time for me to go squeeze every last bit of vacation out of each minute before we leave so wish me luck for safe travels back to seattle!

scenes from the san diego zoo.

today is our last full day in san diego & i'm trying to keep myself from preemptively getting depressed.  those rotten post-vacation blues have a way of rearing their ugly heads with me & i can only hope that maybe we'll be going home to some sunshine but i'm not holding my breath.  this trip has been so fun & i'm just not ready for it to end!

anywho, in the meantime here's a photo-dump from our day at the zoo last week.  i can't believe i didn't get a single picture with parker smiling because he pretty much had a perma-grin on his face the whole time... at least he did once he saw elephants.  it was kind of a temper-tantrum fest right off the bat from the car to the elephants because he wanted to see them so bad.  once that was out of the way, it was pretty smooth sailing the rest of the way.

{our san diego travel buddies christie, ryan & duncan}

{completely overwhelmed by the size of the zoo.  he was in animal-lover's heaven.}

{parker & sam both take their animal watching very seriously... apparently.}

{this little baby was not even a day old!  he had been born that morning.  so freaking cute.}

{and this is where he started to get tired.  but he pushed through it like a champ.}

and then this is the closest we got to getting a decent picture of the three of us.  parker was just not having the posing & we just aren't that great at all looking at the same spot at once, i guess.  but i have to include the family picture right?  

it was a blast.  parker is still talking about seeing elephants & "roars!" and snakes that say "hiss!" he's old enough to enjoy it but probably not old enough to remember it years down the road.

so?  i guess that just means we'll have to make a trip back!

our week by iPhone - week 75

don't hate me if i just breeze on through these pictures... i'm literally holding my eyelids open with my fingertips to stay awake long enough to post this.  we've been going non-stop on our san diego vacay these last couple of days & i wouldn't have it any other way.  we live for this time together as a family & for our vacations & i want to squeeze every single ounce of fun out of every single possible second!

but that doesn't mean i can't pause to recap what we've done.  here's what it looks like in iPhotos.

monday.  p-ray & i stayed home waiting for mr. fedex-man to deliver my rented lens from borrowlenses.com.  this big bad 24-70mm boy is gonna be mine all month.  size matters.  after the drop off was made we ran out the door to the mall to meet up with friends & do some shopping.  also, chipotle was eaten & my stomach was happy.

monday afternoon consisted of movie watching from on top of the toy box, bath-taking & sleeping with one's feet up.  pretty typical p-ray activities.

tuesday.  started the day off with some running at stroller strides but as the belly grows, the running definitely gets harder too.  afterwards p-ray played on toys until it was time for me to go get my hairs cut.  goodbye dead-ends.

the airplane wing + trees picture is courtesy of sam who flew out in a 4-seater cesna to a small town on the coast for work.  i always get SO nervous when he flies in those things!

tuesday night consisted of crazy parker antics... faces at dinner followed by throwing all his stuffed animal friends in his crib to go to bed with him.  he likes it to be a party in there.

wednesday.  we woke up an hour & a half after our alarm was supposed to go off & still somehow managed to make our flight to san diego.  we got realllll lucky.  parker was a total trooper of a traveler & my belly was made very, VERY happy by some in-n-out as soon as we landed in california.  pretty good day.

thursday.  our first full day in san diego was spent exploring the zoo where parker saw 99% of the exhibits from sam's shoulders.  he was in heaven.  his favorites were the elephants, the lions & the monkeys.  oh yeah, & the fish in the polar bear aquarium.

after the zoo we hit up target {for the THIRD time of our trip... not joking} where parker & duncan ripped things down off the shelves like the little mischief-makers that they are.

friday.  we crossed the bridge into coronado & spent some exploring the city & enjoying the sun.  parker was not a fan of the ocean water or the sand & was only happy as long as he was in his dad's arms.  on the way back to the hotel we happened upon the san diego lds temple & explored the gorgeous grounds... pictures don't do this place justice... it's unreal how beautiful this temple is.

friday night sam, parker & i hit up a padres game.  parker made it through all nine innings AND through the fireworks show at the end.  and?  he had a blast.  as in chatter-boxing the whole way home about "baseball!  fireworks!  so fun!"

love that little monster.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

***photos edited via instagram.  do you instagram?  find me @amy_agoodlife & let's picture bond!***
that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=141587" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

little bits of happiness - parker in the park.

big big thank you's to everyone who commented on monday's post about having two kids.  everyone had such supportive amazing things to say & i can't even tell you how many of the comments brought me to tears from the love, support & encouragement i felt.  for reals.  of course bringing me to tears seems to get easier & easier as the pregnancy hormones become more rampant, but still.  so many of you had things to say that just made me that much more excited to have two kids & i can see that although it's normal to be nervous & have some apprehension about how it's all gonna work out, it will work out & it will be great.

so thanks, guys.

today i come at ya from sunny san diego.  we arrived yesterday morning after some slept-through-our-alarm/broke-serious-speed-limits/arrived-at-the-airport-with-less-than-five-minutes-to-spare craziness.  but we made it & are already enjoying the california sun... i'm tellin ya, i could get used to this.  

i forgot the cable to connect my camera to the computer so until i pick up a card reader, i only have iPhone photos to share which will be posted on saturday's weekday recap & so far i'm not doing a great job remembering to take photos.  hopefully that changes today as we head to the san diego zoo.  yayyy!

so until then, here's something you're used to.  parker being parker.  and that makes me happy.

while at the park last week this little guy spent more time throwing sawdust into the air & giggling as it rained back down on him than playing on toys.  toys?  overrated.  bark that can be tossed up & sprinkled down like a million little pieces of confetti?  surprisingly entertaining. 

and then he cooly exits the scene.  there's nothing more to see here.

{linking up with "little bits of happiness" over at stephanie's.  you should too!}

on having two.

the reality of having two little guys around here pretty soon is really starting to set in.

i am both unbelievably excited... and scared out of my mind.  i have so many fears & anxieties about two kids & i get really emotional thinking about it.  thinking about loving another little boy the way i love parker just seems unreal.  i can't even imagine.

and thinking about sharing my time with another little guy scares me more than i can explain.  i am already worried about missing parker & missing our little everyday lives together.  every monday through friday from 7am to 5pm it's just me & him. we go to stroller strides, we do our errands, we share soft pretzels & we take our naps.  he is my best little buddy.  once baby two comes, those one on one times will become a novelty.  they'll become mommy-son "dates" instead of "our daily routine" & i'm going to miss that.  a lot.

there will be times when both kids need me.  it's going to kill me to not be able to give parker that attention he craves when the baby needs to eat.  there will be times when i actually probably get frustrated with parker's silly antics as i'm trying to quiet a crying newborn.  that already makes me sad.  i wish i could give my whole entire self to him his whole entire life.  i don't ever ever want him to think he comes second but for a while?  he will.  it's not that i'll love him less, it's that i need him to be more independent so that i can take care of a helpless newborn... but how do you explain that to him?

and i haven't even gotten into my own personal life.  besides being a mom, i'm also a wife, a part-time ecologist, a photography-business-runner, a work-out-aholic & a blogger.  but when a baby comes?  all of it gets put on hold.  for how long?  who knows... i feel like now at two years with parker i'm just starting to "attempt to do it all" & can almost pull it off.  life is pretty comfortable.  but part of getting ready for this baby to come in four months is preparing mentally to give all that up for a while.  as a mom, it's what we do.  we put our kids first until we find time somewhere down the road for ourselves.

all this being said, i don't want anyone to read this & come away thinking this baby isn't wanted.  the reality couldn't be any more the opposite.  i seriously can't express how excited i am for this new addition but i would be lying if i pretended there were absolutely no nerves at play here.

but seriously?  i can't wait for august to roll around. i am so excited for our little family of three to become a family of four.  to someday travel with our two boys & to cart them off to t-ball & soccer practices & yell things like "leave your muddy shoes at the door & quit throwing the football in the house!"  you know, the stuff that a mom of two boys would say.  i can't wait.  i know it's going to be amazing & i know it's going to be worth it.  i want this family to grow more than anything & i know in the end it all works out or else no one would do it, right?

i'm already beginning to realize that you don't have to take love away from your first baby to feel love for your second.  as this new baby grows & kicks inside my belly, i already love him so much.  and i know on the day we get to meet him, my heart will surely double in size.  and although i have some fears & am nervous for the sleepless nights ahead, i'm ready.  or at least i'm ready to be in a fog for three to six months until i eventually come out the other side.  it will be worth it.  it all works out.  and parker will make it out a happier little boy because he gets a little brother out of the deal.

so everybody wins... right?

our week by iPhone - week 74

i'm gonna try & write something coherent as i sit here & watch episodes of "smash" on-demand because i'm a little into that show right now.  have you seen it?  it's my new obsession.  it's at least filling in for csi & law & order: svu since i've breezed through all the on-demand episodes of those.

anywho, we had a pretty sweet week.  lots of good weather & time spent outside which pretty much automatically makes everything better.  this is what it looked like in iPics.

easter sunday!  forget the easter ham, we were all about the barbeque steak this year.  after some napping we hit up the capitol campus & went for a little strolly-stroll to enjoy the flowers & the view.  it was a little bit amazing.

monday.  stroller strides on a sunny day & parker realizes playground tunnels are kinda awesome.  we hit up target after i dragged him away kicking & screaming only to have him glue himself to the giant red balls outside the target doors.  thanks target for that.  once we made it inside i shopped for san diego trip-attire & bought parker diapers whose empty diaper box provided long amounts of play-time.

and then the other part of the day that was kinda awesome?  sam coming home & whipping up some amazing dinner from the scraps in our fridge.  i think i'll keep him.

tuesday.  way-too-early morning snuggles before heading to the mall for more shopping & an important lunch date.

ended the day with a fro-yo date with girlfriends & then came home to a cute little boy sleeping all crazy-like.

wednesday.  woke up to a rainy day so p-ray & i strapped on our rainboots & met up with friends for errands.  the day got a little brighter when i got an unexpected break while sam & parker ran more errands & i got some alone time.  i love my guys but who doesn't like some bonus alone time, amiright?

oh yeah, & then i blinded parker with the flash in his sleep.  sometimes that happens.

thursday.  i went to work dressed like an easter egg & then ran off for an amazing pedi on my lunch hour.  easter egg toes to match my mood.

after work i picked up my little monster & met up with sam & friends for my girlfriend's birthday dinner... happy birthday lindsey!  then it was home for baths for little boys.

friday.  we spent the morning with friends at the children's museum & ate lunch out on the grass soaking up the sun & picking flowers.

after p-ray took a three & a half hour nap {holllla!} sam came home & we ran family errands.  there was an amazing sunset & i ate peanut butter twix to top off a pretty awesome day.

happy weekend!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

***photos edited via instagram.  do you instagram?  find me @amy_agoodlife & let's picture bond!***
that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=140610" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

twenty-three weeks. bump.

{compare kid two belly to parker belly here}

first off, nothing that exciting happens at twenty three weeks except one thing.  it's one week closer to VIABILITY!  if a girl was to go into labor after twenty-four weeks, doctors would do everything they could to help that baby live since at that time, a baby ideally possesses everything it needs to live outside the womb.  but let's not pretend like that's gonna happen.  it's just exciting that i'm one week closer to having a baby that can survive on its own!  maybe more on this next week.

another week has gone by & pregnancy continues to be real.  my belly is getting bigger & my body is getting sorer.  my back hurts, i have sciatic & pelvic pain & i always feel stiff when getting up from sitting.  but i'm still running at stroller strides & able to do most the exercises.

also, despite the stupid anterior placenta that continues to prohibit sam from feeling baby's kicks {he has tried to feel him a few times but can't.  boo.}, i'm feeling lots of movement from the inside.  and oh my freaking goodness, i love it.  feeling baby movement is definitely the best part of being pregnant... it's like the more sore & achy you get the more baby kicks & jabs you get to feel.  so it all turns out to be ok in the end.  glad someone planned it that way.

and lastly?  the reality of having two real soon is starting to set in.  i get really emotional when i think about what that means & i sorta launched into a novel about it in this post that eventually got copied & pasted into a post of its own for next week.  as tears were streaming down my face while writing about not having everyday one-on-one parker time i realized "wow, this is kinda a topic all its own."  so that's coming.

but thank goodness it's friday.  we'll be spending our weekend getting ready for next week's vacay & counting down the hours til we leave for sunny san diego on wednesday.  sounds like an awesome weekend in the making, no?

little bits of happiness - it's all about spring.

and p-ray.  today's edition of "little bits of happiness" is all about spring & p-ray.

we had a brief few days that hit seventy degrees & it was pretty much amazing.  when you live in the seattle area & it's that nice in april you know better than to hold your breath & think it's gonna stick around, you get out & enjoy it.

here are some bits of spring from the last week that are making me a happy girl.

cherry blossoms on the occasional tree.  not everything is blooming yet so when you find something that is all poofy with pinkish-white flowers?  you take pictures & do a happy dance.

another batch of flowers from the farmer's market.  i bought a mixed dozen of tulips on saturday & they have opened up like whoa.  pretty sure i'm addicted to having fresh flowers blooming in my house.  healthy addiction?  i think so.

p-ray has gotten the whole idea behind coloring.  he picks out specific parts & runs the crayon over them {"big bird's feet!  elmo's face!"} but is only entertained by it for about five minutes.  but five minutes is long enough to get some pretty cute pictures so everybody wins.

also?  post-nap bed head.

green soggy grass.  it might be soaked in rain drops at the moment but at least it's not brown & dead.  and that means we'll be running through it with bare feet in no time... that's cup half full, my friends.

breaking in a new pair of sandals for next week's trip to san diego... nuff said.  {pedicure to come.}

and i always have to end with this guy.  because obviously.

{linking up with stephanie for my fifth week of happiness.}

on having another boy.

i'm not gonna lie.  there is no way i could be more excited about having another boy.

before we knew what we were having i got a lot of "are you hoping for a girl?" comments, which i totally understand.  it seems like you should naturally want one of each, right?  it's the all-american family.  i usually gave the honest answer of "i'm gonna be happy either way."  boy or girl, it was gonna be our baby & the newest member of our family & that baby was gonna be what we were supposed to have.  and like most parents, we spent our time praying that we would see a baby with a healthy heartbeat & well developed organs & bones at the ultrasound... gender was an afterthought.

but if i had been answering completely honest?  i kinda secretly hoped for another boy.  i even felt guilty for feeling that way.  i told sam multiple times how bad i felt for wanting another boy.  how worried i was of feeling disappointed at the ultrasound if we didn't see little boy parts.  so the whole way to the ultrasound i gave myself a pep talk about how having a girl would be awesome.  but as soon as that ultrasound started?  i started looking for boy parts & even though i wasn't sure i saw them, i knew it was a boy.

because the weird truth is?  i had already bonded to that baby in my belly as a boy.  back at about ten weeks i had an overwhelming feeling that baby #2 was a boy & i even had a feeling about his name.  over the next few weeks i discounted it as just weird emotions so i gave it little weight in the gender outcome & my predictions.  but that moment has stuck with me & so has the name.

i have no doubt that if this baby had been a girl she would have fit right in & turned our world upside down with her awesomeness.  but i am just so extremely happy that parker is going to have a little brother.

and there is something to be said about brothers.  i can't wait to raise two boys side by side & watch them go through life together.  i can't wait to be the mom of two boys.  i've always felt like there is this special bond between a mom & her son & i never knew just how amazing it was until these last two years.  and now that is going to be magnified x2?  i can't even.

now i will say this.

i'm not completely sure we're done having babies... we'll just have to make that call a year or two down the road.  and for baby number three?  i would TRULY, honestly, 100%, completely love a boy OR a girl.  in fact maybe i'd hope for a girl for number three.  i do hope to someday experience buying little cardigans & dresses & sweaters & own something in my house that is the color pink.  two protective big brothers & a cute little sister sounds absolutely perfect.

but for now i can't wait for little brother to get here.  i can't wait to see what he looks like & how he's going to be his own person.  i can't wait to see parker's reaction to him & how they interact as two little boys.  i can't wait for them to get into mischief together & for them to form their own personalities.  i can't wait for the epic wrestle matches that will occur in our living room with their dad & to watch him with his two little boys.

at this moment?  i just couldn't be happier.

an easter walk in the park & stuff i actually wear.

did you all have an awesome easter weekend?  despite the lack of any family get-together-ing here {i always wish we lived closer to family on holidays!} we had a pretty sweet weekend.  a whole lotta quality sam-amy-and-parker time.

and to heck with the traditional easter ham & strawberry shortcake dessert.  at our house easter was all about bbq steak & brownies.  and i liked it.

after dinner & family naps, we got out to enjoy the rare seventy-degree day with a walk down at our state's capitol which is pretty freaking gorgeous right now.  like seriously?  the blossoms are unreal.  pictures don't do justice but i tried anyway.

see those cute two little dudes in the lower left?  they're with me.

and this is pretty much my mom uniform.  flip flops, jeans, t-shirt, hoodie.  let's be real, yes?  i'm all about comfort.  {linking up with mandy's "steppin' out saturday!}

p-ray's little "first-day-of-school" grin kills me.  actually, almost everything this kid does just kills me.

this is what you get when you ask parker to smile.  i hope it never changes!

and that was our day.